


Soul of Silver Flame

by SilverDragonfyre



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gender-Neutral Frisk, Magic, Original Character(s), Soul to Soul Speech, frisk is mute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-09-21 10:34:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9543938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverDragonfyre/pseuds/SilverDragonfyre
Summary: Frisk and Sans have been stuck in a seemingly endless loop for...who knows how long.  Sans can't tell anymore.  Each reset has bled into the next, and the malignant spirit of an enraged child keeps possessing Frisk, forcing them to kill over and over again.  Frisk manages to escape before it's too late to Reset, but Chara always finds them.  Frisk isn't sure how much longer they can hold out hope.Until one day a mysterious and strange woman appears in the Underground.Krys has seen many various worlds, fought in many battles, but she's never been to one quite like Undertale.  She's not your typical visitor to the Underground.  She carries a sword.  She can use magic.  The most interesting thing, perhaps?Krys isn't a human.  She is not a monster.  She's something else entirely.Can Krys break the cycle of dust and death that the inhabitants of the Underground are trapped in?  Can Sans eventually trust this new stranger to help them break the Barrier?~*~*~*~*~*~This is a rewrite of my previous work, Breaking Through.  I've been working more on Krys' backstory and reworking her character.  Let me know what you guys think!





	1. Entrance Interrupted

Very little stirred in the quiet forest clearing. A soft gentle breeze caressed the long blades of grass, while squirrels chattered in the branches above. Birdsong drifted through the soft afternoon air. It was autumn. A golden leaf fell free from its branch, twirling and dancing down to the ground, landing near a woman, Krys, sitting cross-legged leaning against one of the thick trees that surrounded the little clearing.

Krys appeared to be sleeping. Her eyes were closed, her chest rising and falling with every slow breath she took. Her long dark brown hair was tied back in a french braid, long enough that it fell past her hips. She wore a long cream-colored tunic over black pants and dark brown boots that laced up to her mid-thigh. A weapon belt was strapped around her waist, a sword and dagger resting on her left hip. A shoulder bag hung off her right shoulder. Over all of it, she wore a light gray hooded cloak. Scars decorated her tanned skin, signs of many past battles. The most noticeable one was across the right side of her neck.

One thing stood out about this woman that would have startled anyone who walked into the clearing at that moment.

She appeared to be on fire. 

Silver-white flames tinged with deep blue curled around her as she breathed. Once in a while the woman’s hair or clothes would rustle with the movements of the flames, but Krys was not worried. The gentle blaze would not consume her.

It was her own magic, after all.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open and the flames vanished. Deep blue eyes gazed around the clearing, searching for any signs of disturbance. The woman relaxed when she found none. Krys sighed and reached into her bag, pulling out a leather-bound book, with five crystals embedded into the front cover. The center crystal, larger than the others, occupied the center of the cover, while the other four smaller ones made up a diamond formation around it. The woman took one final look around the clearing, and once she was sure she was alone, opened the book to the first blank page she came to. She took out a pen and started writing.

_Krys - Journal Entry #50,062_

_It has been five days since the dragon has been vanquished. This world’s Hero has returned home, with their new lover. I wish them both well. They have been through many trials, but I hope that their lives are long and prosperous. They have both earned it._

_As far as I can tell, the people here are now returning to their normal lives, before the dragon appeared and threatened their lives and very existence. Now that this crisis point has passed, this world will continue on living._

_However, that does mean that I am once again no longer needed here. I bid my farewell to the Hero and their companions. It wasn’t as difficult this time. In a way, it disturbs me how easy it has become to leave each world I come to, in spite of staying anywhere from several months to several years each time. For some reason, none of them ever feel like...home. Perhaps it is just me, unable to forge lasting connections with the people I meet and thus unable to find a place to call home. Perhaps it is my fate now to always be alone._

Krys paused, eyebrows furrowed in concern. She glanced around the clearing again before resuming her writing.

_A sobering thought._

_At any rate, there is little left for me to do here. I have been searching the Void Between for the next world to visit, and while I have found one...it is strange. As I have written before, I move between worlds by finding areas where the fabric of reality is thinner, where I can ‘slip’ through, so to speak. Every world has these weak spots, and they tend to appear in higher frequencies when the world is either approaching or experiencing their crisis point, where the outcome can determine whether a country, entire race, or even entire world survives. Not only that, but the weak spots tend to appear near whoever is the Hero of that world, whoever’s actions will influence the outcome of the crisis point the most. They are so important in that world’s crisis point that they end up bending reality around them. That is how I find the Hero so quickly whenever I visit a new world._

_However, this next world seems perpetually stuck in their crisis point, and the thinner veil of reality making up that world keeps vanishing and reappearing. As far as worlds go, this one is highly unstable. It almost makes me wonder if time travel shenanigans are at play here. As I’ve been using my magic to feel out this new world, I get the feeling that the same couple of days has been replayed over and over again. Whatever is going on, it can’t be good._

_I have been gathering my energy to phase from this world to the next. Somehow I sense I will need more than usual to arrive safely._

Carefully, Krys drew five strange symbols onto the page at the end of this latest journal entry. These five elegant and flowing collection of lines represented the new universe she was going to and where it resided in the Void Between. It was a somewhat inexact representation, but Krys always found magic in general to be more of an art than a science. What mattered was that these symbols made sense to her and allowed her to channel her power in the way she desired, which, in this case, meant phasing from one reality to another without getting lost in the Void Between.

The woman lightly blew on the ink to dry it to the pages and studied the five symbols one last time before closing the book and putting it and the pen back into her satchel. No more delays. It was time to move on.

She came slowly to her feet, summoning her power once more. Instead of the flames gently surrounding her as they did before, they erupted and swirled around Krys’ form, blazing as Krys once again closed her eyes and focused. The five symbols she just inscribed in her book appeared in her mind, blazing lines dictating her next destination. The fires around her blazed brighter and brighter, until Krys and her flames vanished in a flash of white light.

The pressing darkness and feeling of nothingness around her let Krys know she was in the Void Between now, though her attention remained focused on those five symbols, guiding her power to focus on the next jump to this new world. She could feel it now, her power pushing against the fabric of reality, creating a doorway for her to pass through. Krys was almost there, reaching for that new world when suddenly the world shifted with a flash of red light, and the door slammed shut, violently catapulting Krys back into the Void Between.

The symbols shattered in Krys’ vision, and all went black.


	2. Into the Caves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being thrown back into the Void Between, Krys has to try again. Will the unexpected drain on her magic cause problems later on?
> 
> Also, who on earth is with her in this strange cave?

The dark was endless. The black of nothing stretched forever in every direction. There was no up, or down. Not really. No force of gravity to tell any unfortunate traveler how to right themselves in the empty space.

Except the Void Between Worlds is not as empty as it first appears.

Dark mists and whispers, all that remains of those who found their way here but were trapped, unable to escape, unable to even die in this space between worlds. Those who are trapped here lose everything, their sense of self, their memories, even their bodies fade until all that is left are raging malevolent spirits, driven into madness in the infinite space. Whenever Krys wrote of them, she called them the Lost. 

These dark whispers and mists drifted through the stretches of nothingness, seemingly aimless in their wanderings, until they spotted something different in the infinite black. Something new.

A light.

The Lost sped over to the light and gathered around it, trying to push against the edges of it. There was prey within that sphere of light, and they were hungry.

The source of the light was Krys’ unconscious body. The brightest point centered in her chest, radiating outward into the dark. The Lost spirits seemed to have trouble pushing into the sphere of this strange alien light, but the strongest ones eventually wormed their way inside. The mists tried to take hold of Krys. Thin wisps plucked at her clothes and hair, but they avoided the weapons that hung at her side. No matter how close they came to grasping their prey, it continued to slip through their clutches. It had to be that light! It kept them from getting close, and now it was keeping them from seizing the interloper, the intruder, their p r e y.

The whispers of the Lost rose in number and increased in their hunger, their fury. The Void seemed to ring and echo in their ferocity. The formless beings pushed and dashed against the light, circling it so thickly that the glow was nearly blotted out.

Until Krys opened her eyes.

A shockwave of fire and light burst from that concentrated point in her chest, forcing the formless beings back from her. The sphere of light around her intensified.

The mists were not pleased.

Krys straightened, as if standing, quickly looking around and realizing where she was. With a growl, she recalled those symbols she had used to guide herself to that world before she had been shut out. Their forms blazed into her mind once again. With her right our outstretched before her, Krys’ vivid blue eyes focused on the space in front of her. Energy swirled and gathered into a silver-white sphere in front of her palm.

The beings of the Void Between violently bashed against the light, struggling to find a way back to this intruding woman. Their whispers, now more like screams, shook with their fury.

The woman did not tear her eyes away from the glowing sphere in front of her, forcing her way back to the door that had been shut to her. The sphere brightened until its light was blinding. Then a sound somewhere between shattering glass and tearing cloth ripped through the Void, and the light and woman were gone.

~*~*~*~*~*~

When Krys next opened her eyes, she found herself standing in a small patch of golden flowers bathed in a beam of sunlight. She eyed the large golden blooms curiously before examining her surroundings, taking note of the stalactites in the cavern roof above her.

“Interesting,” she murmured. “I seem to be underground.”

She stepped out of the light, carefully trying to avoid crushing the yellow blossoms, and onto the barren cave floor. The hole in the cavern above her seemed to be the only source of sunlight, meaning the rest of the cave should have been pitch dark, but there seemed to be some sort of ambient light that allowed Krys to see perfectly well. For a moment, Krys thought she saw something shimmering in the light coming from the hole, like the film of a soap bubble, but it vanished again almost instantly.

Krys examined the walls of this strange cave. They had been smoothed by hand, and the stones were purple, instead of the normal brown or gray Krys would have expected. Unfamiliar runes had been painstakingly carved into the rock. Someone had taken great care to make this chamber into something more than just a simple cave. Krys pulled out her journal and carefully noted some of these strings of symbols onto the paper for later study. 

The movement of air around caught Krys’ attention, and she looked up to spot the source of the ‘wind’ to be a doorway with columns on both sides in the far wall. Slipping her journal back into her bag, Krys approached the doorway cautiously. A quiet sense of excitement built within her as Krys began looking forward to exploring this new world.

A sudden wave of dizziness and nausea forced Krys to lean against the nearby wall for support. She pressed her palms to her forehead, fighting to remain standing as the room felt like it spun around her. Finally, the feeling passed, leaving Krys hunched over and breathless.

_It’s okay, Krys,_ she coached herself. _You just used a bit too much energy coming through the Void, that’s all. Having this world throw you out the first time didn’t help matters, but you’re fine. Nothing a little food and a nap won’t solve. You’re fine._

She looked down. Her hands were trembling. Clenching her fists, she willed them to still.

_I ’ m f i n e._

Her thoughts were interrupted by a new sound she hadn’t expected. 

Voices.

Krys’ head jerked up towards the doorway. The voices were coming from the other side.

Immediately dropping into a crouch, Krys sneaked up to the doorway and peered through. She had no way of telling if these voices were friendly or not, so she decided it was best to observe them from afar first. There was no telling what sort of situation she’d find herself in if she just ran in, after all.

The next room was very similar to the first chamber, except that there were pillars placed every so often to support the cave roof above. There was also a pool of light in the center of the room, perhaps from another hole to the surface. A small human, who could not have been older than nine or ten years old, stood facing away from Krys at the edge of the circle of light. A mop of brown hair covered their head, and they wore a blue and purple striped sweater and a pair of shorts. From this distance, Krys could not tell if the child was a boy or a girl.

In front of the child, right in the center of the pool of light, was one of the strangest things Krys had seen in a long time. It was a large golden flower.

With a face.


	3. Encounter With a Flower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Krys stops the homicidal flower and learns the mysterious child's name!
> 
> 3/8/17 - Small edit made at end of chapter to show Frisk using sign language.

Krys quietly slipped through the doorway and ducked behind one of the nearby pillars. The strange flower hadn’t seen her, though it was facing her direction, and it hadn’t noticed her quiet footsteps. It seemed too intent on the child in front of it.

“So friend,” the flower sneered at the child. “You managed to reset on your own this time?” The flower’s face morphed and twisted into an ugly mocking expression. “Always trying to go back. Think you can erase what you’ve done? All that LOVE you built up in your soul?” The bloom started laughing. Its (his?) high-pitched voice caused Krys to flinch. “You should know better by now. I remember every single thing you’ve done. Every monster you dusted. Every soul you shattered.” It leaned closer to the child with a sick, smug grin. “Chara remembers too.”

The child was hugging themselves and shaking their head as the flower spoke, but with every word the smug little weed spit at the kid, they curled more and more into themselves. Even from this distance, Krys could see them trembling. The poor kid was terrified.

The flower giggled madly as the child’s shaking worsened. “Let’s try something a little different this time.”

The child suddenly broke away and tried to sprint past the flower, but stout, thorny vines burst from the ground and snagged the kid’s legs. The child fell to the ground, hard, and more vines reached out from the dirt to take hold of their arms, pinning them to the child’s body. Using the vines, the flower lifted the child off the ground and turned them to face him. Now Krys could see the child’s terrified face and the tears trailing down their cheeks.

And she had seen enough. Krys silently drew her sword and stepped out from behind the pillar. The flower was so focused on his victim that he didn’t hear Krys’ movements.

“You were so close,” the flower hissed. “You almost reached the end! What happened? Suddenly have a change of heart? You got soft, that’s what! You actually listened to Smiley Trashbag, accepted his ‘mercy’, and you let him kill you. Y o u i d i o t.”

Three steps away.

“Not that it matters,” the flower continued. “Chara will come back for you. She always does.”

Two steps away.

“While we wait, how about I kill you this time? You’re always looking for new things to try, after all.”

One step.

White pellets suddenly appeared all around the trapped child, and a glowing red cartoon-ish shaped heart manifested in front of the kid’s chest.

The flower cackled triumphantly as the pellets circled closer and closer to the red heart. “ **D i e.** ”

The flower’s demonic laughter was cut short when it felt the sharp blade of Krys’ sword against its stem.

“Do you feel that, weed?” Krys asked, her voice quiet and menacing. “I’ve used this sword to cut through rock and bone. How do you think your plant body will fare? Want to try it out?”

The white pellets vanished, and the flower turned slowly to face Krys. It appeared to be shocked and afraid, obviously not expecting company.

Krys quickly glanced at the kid. Even though tears were still streaming down their face, they also looked very surprised to see her. Tightening her grip on the sword, Krys prepared to strike, but a quiet voice echoed in her mind. It was not her own.

_“Please...please don’t hurt him....”_

The woman looked back at the child. Did the voice come from them? Then she looked back at the trembling plant. She frowned and pulled the sword away.

“ **Leave** ,” she growled.

With a small ‘pop!’ the flower was gone, disappearing underground. Krys glared at the vacant spot of dirt before sheathing her sword and crouching down in front of the child. Now that the flower was gone, the sagging vines no longer held the small human in the air, though they were still wrapped around their limbs. The glowing red heart had floated back into the child’s chest and vanished.

“Hey there,” Krys hummed to the small human. The child looked away, their eyes still watering. Now that Krys was close enough, she could see their eyes were a lovely chocolate brown. “I’m not here to hurt you, sweetie.” Krys’ left hand pulled the dagger from her belt as she continued to talk softly. “I just need you to stay still for a few moments, okay? This thing is rather sharp, and I don’t want to nick you by mistake.”

Brown eyes looked back to her, and after a moment, the child relaxed and nodded.

Working slowly and carefully, Krys began to cut away the vines starting with the ones wrapped around the child’s arms. Just as she managed to free their hands, a second wave of vertigo and dizziness washed over her, far stronger than the first one. She fell forward onto her hands and knees, the dagger clattering to the floor as it fell from her grasp. The nauseating sensations passed after a few seconds, but it still left Krys shaking and weak. When she opened her tired eyes again, she found that the child had finished untangling themselves from the rest of the vines and had their arms wrapped around her in an awkward hug.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Krys whispered. She patted their back and carefully shifted so that she was sitting on the ground next to them. “I’m just tired and need to rest a bit. I traveled a long way to get here, you see.” 

She tried to give the child a reassuring smile, but they weren’t fooled. Those brown eyes, suddenly looking far older than a young child’s should, gave her a worried look. The small human sat down in front of Krys.

The woman sighed, running one of her hands over her face. She must look pretty terrible for this kid to worry about her so much. “Alright then…” She trailed off for a moment before smiling again. “Let me introduce myself, at least. Call me Krys.” She reached out a hand to shake the child’s much smaller one in greeting. “What’s your name?”

The child hesitated a moment before grabbing Krys’ hand to shake it. Then they drew their hand back and started signing, and the quiet voice came into her mind again.

_“My name is Frisk.”_


	4. Souls and Silver Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It turns out strange homicidal flowers were not the thing Krys needed to watch out for.

_“My name is Frisk.”_

Krys’ smile grew, though the dual voice and sign language was interesting to the woman. Now that the two of them were alone, Krys could tell that the voice was being projected from the child, but it seemed to be a habit for Frisk to communicate via hand signs. Maybe the child didn’t realize Krys could hear them. Maybe humans usually couldn’t hear them?

From the sound of the voice, Frisk sounded like they could be a young girl, but Krys had learned over the years that it was far better to ask than to guess genders. 

“That’s a good name!” Krys said happily. “I’m glad to meet you, Frisk. Pardon my rudeness, but are you a boy or girl? It’s difficult for me to tell with children sometimes.”

Frisk smiled shyly back before signing some more, apparently happy to find that Krys could understand them. _“Neither, actually. I’m gender neutral, so if you could use ‘they’ pronouns, I’d appreciate it.”_

Krys nodded and offered her hand to Frisk. “Fair enough.”

Frisk was quick to accept the handshake, and they continued to smile at Krys. However, there was something off about Frisk’s smile, like it wasn’t quite genuine. Something was still bothering them.

“You want to tell me what’s wrong, Frisk?” Krys asked. “I’m pretty good at fixing things. And I can keep that mean old weed away if that’s what’s wrong.”

The kid looked down at their hands and clenched them into fists. Silent tears began falling and Frisk shook their head. Flowey wasn’t the problem, then. Krys waited patiently, and after a few moments Frisk raised their hands and shakily began to sign, though their voice returned again. 

_“I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore, but...Chara won’t let me.”_ Frisk’s hands and voice paused as they tried to still their shaking hands again. Krys waited, not wanting to interrupt, though the thought of this sweet child hurting anyone seemed very unlikely to her. And who was this Chara person?

_“She keeps making me kill them all. Over and over. I can’t stop it. I can’t stop her!”_ Frisk’s voice started breaking as they started to pick up speed, and their hands were shaking so badly that even if Krys could understand sign language, she wouldn’t have been able to follow it. _“She makes me Reset, so everyone comes back, but then she makes me kill them again! I don’t want to kill anyone anymore!”_ Frisk’s whole body started to tremble. Krys moved over and wrapped her arms around them in a gentle hug. Frisk hardly seemed to notice. _“S-so, when I was fighting Sans, I finally got control again...and I Reset, without Chara. I came back but-”_ Frisk’s voice gave out entirely. They suddenly threw their tiny arms around Krys, sobbing.

Krys just held the child close to her, letting them cry into her shoulder. Quite honestly, Krys couldn’t understand what Frisk was talking about when they mentioned Resets, but if it caused a large group of people to “come back” after being killed, maybe it was some sort of time travel? It could possibly be a mass revival spell, but that seemed unlikely, and it didn’t really fit the definition of a reset, anyway.

If it was time travel of some sort, it would explain why she had such a hard time finding a stable entryway into this universe when she was passing through the Void Between. It would also explain how Flowey said that Frisk had allowed this Sans character to kill them, but Frisk was obviously still alive here in Krys’ arms. There was the possibility that Frisk was potentially losing their sanity, but…

Krys glanced down to Frisk, who was still crying into her shirt, and gave them a gentle squeeze.

No...Krys didn’t sense a broken mind. Just a child who had seen and done far too much.

Krys sat there, continuing to hold Frisk, until their tears slowed and their breathing calmed. The woman softly stroked Frisk’s brown hair and sighed quietly. She hadn’t had to comfort a child like this since her little brother-

No! She quickly cut her thought off there. She couldn’t think about him. Couldn’t think about them. It wouldn’t do anyone any good now. No.

Instead, Krys turned her attention back to Frisk. While she had been deliberating and thinking over Frisk’s words, Frisk’s sobs had finally quieted, and their grip on her shirt loosened once more. With one final sniffle, Frisk pulled away from Krys. They gave her a shaky smile and raised their hands to sign again.

_“Thank you…I know that you might not believe me, but-”_

Krys smiled again and softly held Frisk's hands, interrupting them there. “I’m going to help you, Frisk, in any way that I can,” she vowed. 

Frisk returned the smile, but then their eyes glanced at something behind Krys and their smile faltered. Eerie childlike laughter echoed throughout the room. Frisk stiffened and backed away, their brown eyes staring at whatever was behind Krys. Krys scrambled to her feet and whirled around, hand gripping the hilt of her sword, and found the source of the laughter and of Frisk’s fear.

A ghostly figure had manifested behind her. It looked very similar to Frisk, with a mop of brown hair and similar body shape. A child, then. They wore similar clothes as well, a striped sweater, green and yellow as opposed to Frisk’s blue and purple, and shorts. The ghost’s eyes were glowing red, and there seemed to be an unnatural permanent smile stretched across their lips. A dark aura gathered around it, reminding Frisk of the black mists of the Void Between. Then the ghost began to speak.

“Oh Friiiiiiiisk…” It had a rather sing-song sort of tone as it whispered Frisk’s name. “Who’s your new friend?” The voice was of a little girl, but it sounded...wrong somehow. Twisted.

_“Go away!”_ Frisk shouted, their voice echoing in Krys’ mind. Krys didn’t turn around to see if Frisk was signing. Krys kept her eyes on the ghost in front of them.

“Oh Frisk,” the ghost sighed. “You know I can’t do that. Besides, I need you to finish what we started...Partner.” Its grin stretched wider.

_“No, Chara! I won’t do it anymore!”_

Krys narrowed her eyes at the ghost. So this was Chara. “Leave Frisk alone,” she growled.

The ghost blinked in surprise and focused its gaze on Krys for the first time. “Oh! You can see me?” It looked around Krys at the trembling child behind her. “Where did you find such a special new friend, Frisk?”

Krys stepped to the side, blocking Frisk from Chara’s gaze. “I said leave Frisk alone!” 

Chara simply laughed, as if Krys had told her the cleverest joke. “I don’t know who you are, stranger, but there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

Frisk let out a small grunt of pain, catching Krys’ attention. She turned to see what happened. The red heart she had seen earlier when the flower was tormenting Frisk had returned, drawn out of Frisk’s body and hovering in front of their chest. Now, however, black mists gathered around it, leaving oily residue wherever it touched the heart. Frisk fell to their knees, their tremors getting worse as the mists condensed around the heart. Krys could faintly hear them whimper, and their voice spoke in their head again. _“I’m sorry…”_

“You see, stranger,” the ghostly child continued, “that red heart is Frisk’s soul, everything they are. I can control their soul, and therefore control them. Frisk managed to throw me out last time, but once I retake control, I’m not going to let Frisk escape so easily again. We’re going to start all over. It'll be so much fun! Maybe we can use that pretty knife you dropped there?” Chara pointed at the dagger on the ground and laughed at Krys’ furious expression. “You can’t stop me. Your sword is useless, unless you want to kill Frisk right now before I take over, and even then Frisk will just Reset, and I’ll be right here waiting.” She giggled some more. “Isn’t that right, Frisk?”

Frisk was shaking, and Krys noticed their eyes were slowly changing color from a deep brown to a dull red. Krys’ hand dropped from her sword. She was not going to slay an innocent child. There had to be another way…

Then her eyes turned to the red heart, Frisk’s soul, and the black mists that circled around it. If her sword couldn’t do anything, then maybe her magic could.

She quickly knelt down with Frisk, gently cupping her hands below their soul, and began summoning her magic. The instant Krys reached for her power, she knew she was making a mistake. Krys was still very weak from phasing into this world. Dizziness and nausea swept through her body, but Krys pushed past those sensations, concentrating entirely on the fragile soul in front of her. Her hands began to glow with a silver light.

“What do you think you’re doing, stranger?” Chara asked, sounding genuinely curious.

Krys didn’t answer. Strands of silver light drifted up from her palms to the heart, cutting between the mists.

“I asked what were you doing, stranger?” This time she sounded threatening, but Krys could hear something else underneath the growls. Worry.

The strands of light thickened as they wound around the soul. Black spots began to swim in Krys’ vision. Beads of sweat gathered on her forehead. She kept pressing forward. The light brightened in her hands, shimmering and burning like fire.

“Stop!” Chara screamed.

With one final push, Krys caused the silver fire to flow from her hands up the silver strands of light around Frisk’s soul, burning away the black mists.

“Stop it!!”

The fire solidified around the soul, burning away the black tar the mists had left behind. The glow from Krys’ hands faded, but the flame around Frisk’s soul continued to burn. Carefully Krys guided the soul back into Frisk’s chest. Once it had returned to their body, Frisk jerked their head up to face Krys, bewildered. Krys smiled in satisfaction when she saw Frisk’s eyes. They were brown again.

“What did you do?!” Chara growled.

Krys stood on trembling legs and turned to face the ghost child, silver fire flickering around her fingers. “I burned away your influence, Chara.” Krys stood between Chara and Frisk, prepared to fight if necessary. “As long as I am here, you cannot control Frisk again.”

Chara’s face twisted into one of the angriest expressions Krys had ever seen, her red eyes blazing with fury. Then the demonic smile returned, and the dark mists condensed around Chara’s hand, forming a black spectral knife. “Then I’ll just have to get rid of you!” the ghost child cried.

Chara lunged at Krys, knife raised high to stab at the woman’s stomach or heart, but just before Chara’s knife could strike, Krys’ eyes flashed, and her body was engulfed in silver flames sending Chara flying back. The unearthly fires swirled around Krys, and the woman raised her right hand, pointing at Chara. Her blue eyes glared down at Chara’s furious gaze.

“Not today,” Krys whispered.

A wave of flames streamed forward, sweeping over Chara and burning away the darkness that surrounded the ghost girl. Chara screamed when the flames finally reached her ghostly form, and Krys could see the girl strike at her silver fire with her dagger, trying to cut through her magic. But it wasn’t enough. The fires engulfed the spirit, obscuring Chara entirely, and Chara’s howls of rage faded. The flames died down and disappeared, as if they were never there, and the demon child was gone.

Krys lowered her hand back to her side, and slowly, her power began to dissipate, leaving Krys almost reeling. She reached up, holding her head in one hand to try to fight back the headache blooming in her skull. The rest of the silver flames dwindled away, but Krys heard Chara’s voice faintly echo in her mind. 

“You caught me by surprise, s t r a n g e r, but I’ll be back...You can’t get rid of me that easily…”

Krys didn’t even have a chance to respond to Chara’s ominous warning before Frisk’s tiny form suddenly collided into her leg. The small child was crying, and hugged Krys tightly, as if Krys was anchoring Frisk to this world. Krys smiled comfortingly and ruffled Frisk’s hair fondly. Frisk finally looked up at Krys and pulled back to sign some more. Krys knelt down to reassure Frisk that they were safe now, and that Krys would protect them.

Well, that was the plan, at least.

Instead, when Krys tried to kneel down her knees gave out under her, dropping the woman to the ground. Frisk tried to grab her before Krys could collapse completely, wrapping their arms around her waist and holding her tightly, but the small child couldn’t hold her up. Frisk guided Krys down to the ground so that she was laying on her side.

Frisk didn’t even try to sign this time, but Krys heard Frisk’s words echoing from their soul very clearly. _“Krys! What’s wrong? What’s happening?!”_ The poor child was crying even harder now. _“Please don’t die!”_

Carefully taking a breath in, Krys tried to focus her wavering gaze on Frisk. It was so hard to keep her eyes open. “I’m not dying...Frisk…” Krys breathed out. “Just tired...very…...tired……”

Finally it was just too difficult to keep her eyes open. Krys closed her eyes, and let dark oblivion sweep over her.

Very faintly, Frisk could hear a sound like glass beginning to crack.


	5. Unexpected Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile on the other side of the Ruins, there's a certain skeleton waiting. Waiting...
> 
> Frisk is taking a long time to come through this time, aren't they?

Sans leaned against the wall next to the gates to the ruins, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his blue hooded jacket. The hood was pulled up around his rounded head, and the black pair of gym shorts with white pin stripes down the sides revealed the lower half of his legs. His fuzzy blue slippers crunched against the snow as he shifted his weight. Sans had to admit, he wasn’t exactly dressed for the weather, but that was alright. 

Skeleton monsters don’t get cold, after all. It just goes right through them.

Heh. Paps might have even liked that one. It was a classic.

The short (well short for a monster anyway), stout skeleton fidgeted as he continued to wait, fighting back the urge to just close his eyes and take a nap. Sans was almost always tired, enough so that bags hung under his eye sockets. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept through the whole night. Not since that accident at the lab, and certainly not since the Resets started, anyway.

 _the kid should be out here any minute. honestly, they should have been here already. maybe they decided to take their time in the ruins this timeline, but why?_ Sans’ eyelights glanced over at the Ruins doors. _It never takes Frisk this long in the Ruins anymore… what are they doing in there? is toriel ok?_

Sans’ permanent smile faded. How many times had he done this song and dance now? How many times had he been waiting outside these Ruins for the kid to appear, never knowing if it was going to be Frisk or Chara who met him? 

More often than not lately it had been Chara, but Sans tried to hold on to a faint hope that Frisk would appear again. Sans was tired of fighting. Tired of seeing his brother and everyone he knew turned to dust in front of him. Tired of facing the demonic, twisted grin on Frisk’s face as Chara forced them to kill again and again. Tired of killing Frisk to stop Chara from ending everything.

Most of all, Sans was tired of the damned Resets.

He had made a decision, changing how things would go from now on. If it was Chara’s red eyes that faced him when that door opened, he would kill the kid here and now, not even letting them reach Snowdin. Even if it would break the promise he made to Toriel. Sure, the kid would just reset again, but maybe Chara would give up eventually if she kept meeting her end so early in the ‘game’. That one never seemed to like it if things were “unfair”. Sans was prepared to do this until the end of time if it was necessary. It’d make the cycle quicker too. No more fighting in the Judgment Hall. It would end here in Snowdin Forest instead.

But as long as Sans had waited today, the kid never came out of the Ruins. At any moment Papyrus would be coming around to check on him, and it would be disastrous if Papyrus saw Sans and Chara fighting. Paps wouldn’t understand. He never remembered what happened in the past timelines, though Sans sometimes suspected Papyrus might dream about them. No one but Sans, Chara, Frisk, and that damned Flowey remembered the past timelines. Papyrus was so kind-hearted that he would probably try to defend the human right up until Chara stabbed him in the back, probably even as his body turned to dust. 

Sans wasn’t going to let Papyrus get hurt again.

The light snowfall drifted down onto the silent forest as Sans continued to wait. With a sigh, he pulled his fluffy fur-lined hood back and stepped out in front of the stone doors. Even when Chara was on a genocide murder spree, it never took the kid this long to exit the ruins. Just what was going on in there?

Sans knocked on the doors in front of him, hearing the faint echo as the sound reverberated down the halls on the other side. If nothing else, maybe Toriel would answer. He’d like to share a few jokes with her at least. He waited a few moments, but there was no reply. Sans let out a small sigh, watching his warm breath leave a steam cloud in the cold air. Maybe Toriel was out in the ruins somewhere, watering the flowers or talking to the Whimsuns. Or she was already dead. But if she was dusted, the kid would have already come through the door.

...Right?

"SAAAAAAAAANS!!!” Papyrus’ voice shattered the silence of the forest. Damn, it must have been later than Sans thought. “WHERE ARE YOU, SANS?”

Sans turned and spotted the tall silhouette of his brother emerging from the trees. As always, Papyrus was still wearing his “battle body”, the white chest plate, blue bottoms with bright yellow waistband, oversized red gloves and boots, and his matching red scarf billowing in the wind like a cape behind him. The grin on Sans’ face was actually genuine as his tall skeleton brother approached, but he couldn’t help the worried glance back at the doors behind him.

“AH, THERE YOU ARE, SANS! YOU WERE NOT AT YOUR STATION. WHAT ARE YOU DOING ALL THE WAY OUT HERE, BROTHER?” Papyrus asked, putting his fists on his hips. “YOUR POST IS NOWHERE NEAR HERE!”

“heya, bro,” Sans greeted with a small, lazy wave. “i just thought that i could wait here for a human to come through.” Sans added a shrug for good measure before stuffing his hand back into his pocket. “after all, they have to come through that door, right?” It wasn’t technically a lie...he actually was waiting for Frisk.

Papyrus narrowed his eye sockets and stared at Sans for a moment. “YOU HAVE BEEN ACTING VERY STRANGELY TODAY, SANS.”

Sans stiffened, and he could feel sweat drops starting to gather on his domed skull. Could Papyrus tell he wasn’t giving him the full story? Papyrus was very perceptive, which even Sans sometimes forgot through all the resets. “wh-what do you mean, pap? just been acting like i normally do.”

Papyrus shook his head as he continued regarding his brother. “WELL, YOU DIDN’T COMPLAIN THIS MORNING WHEN I WOKE YOU UP FOR SENTRY DUTY. YOU ALWAYS WANT AT LEAST FIVE MORE MINUTES. THEN WHEN I WENT TO GRILLBY’S TO CHASE YOU OUT, LIKE I DO EVERY MORNING, YOU WEREN’T THERE! GRILLBY TOLD ME YOU HAD JUST TAKEN YOUR BREAKFAST TO GO AND LEFT.”

Sans gave a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his neck. Guess he wasn't as sneaky as he thought he was. “well... you see…”

“AND FINALLY,” Papyrus continued, “WHEN I CAME TO CHECK ON YOU, YOU WEREN’T AT YOUR POST. BUT INSTEAD OF LAZING ABOUT TAKING A NAP SOMEWHERE, YOU’RE ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR A HUMAN!” Papyrus stepped closer to Sans, one hand rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he regarded his shorter brother. “COULD IT BE…”

The tall skeleton’s eyes were narrowed in suspicion, and he took a few more slow steps forward until he was standing right in front of Sans. He continued to stare, examining the stout skeleton closely.

“uh, papyrus?” Sans took a step back, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. “you ok, bro?”

And suddenly Sans was swept up into a bone-crushing hug in his brother’s arms, lifted completely off the ground against Papyrus’ chestplate. “I’M SO PROUD OF YOU!” From his position, Sans couldn’t see Papyrus’ face, but he could practically hear the tears of joy welling up in his brother’s eyes. “YOU ARE FINALLY TAKING YOUR JOB SERIOUSLY! I’M STARTING TO BE A GOOD INFLUENCE ON YOU!”

A light blue blush dusted Sans’ cheeks as he patted Papyrus on the back. “throw me a bone, eh paps? i can be serious if i wanna be.”

“SANS.” And there went Papyrus’ joy. “I WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR TERRIBLE PUNS TO RUIN THIS BEAUTIFUL MOMENT.”

Sans just chuckled and hugged his brother back, but the peace of the forest was shattered with sudden frantic knocking from the Ruin doors. Papyrus dropped his brother in surprise, leaving Sans to land with an ‘oomph!’ in the snow. Sans was about to zing his brother with another pun in retaliation, but the knocking at the door picked up again.

“Sans? Sans, are you there?” cried a female voice, quietly followed by, “oh, please be out there…”

“Sans, What Is This About?” Papyrus asked, strangely quiet. “Who Is That?”

Shrugging in response, Sans got to his feet. Toriel hadn’t told him her name in this timeline, so he couldn’t reveal that he knew she was the missing Queen of Monsters. He also had never heard Tori this frantic before, not even on a genocide run. He knocked on the door and called out, “i’m here, friend. i’m here. what’s going on? are you ok?”

“Thank the stars! Yes! Yes, I am fine!” Toriel replied. Sans' shoulders sagged with relief. “But I need help! Two...two humans fell down here.”

Sans’ brow bones shot up in surprise. Two humans? Through all the various timelines and resets, Frisk was the only one who ever fell into the Underground. Now there were suddenly two humans?

Toriel spoke again once when Sans didn’t make a verbal response. “One of the humans is a child, and they seem to be unharmed.”

Sans sighed with relief again. The child had to be Frisk, and if Toriel was still alive, that meant Chara wasn’t in control.

Toriel’s worried voice continued. “The second human is an adult, and she is unconscious. She is not wounded as far as I can tell, but my healing magic is unable to help her. She has not woken up…”

An adult? That was definitely new.

“something may be going on with her soul, then…” Sans mused to himself. Was this adult Falling Down? He didn’t think humans could do that.

“PERHAPS THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN BE OF ASSISTANCE?” Sans jumped a bit at Papyrus’ sudden appearance at his side. He had almost forgotten his brother was there. “I AM VERY SKILLED IN HEALING MAGICS AND WOULD BE ABLE TO HEAL A WEAKENED SOUL.”

Toriel grew quiet on the other side of the door. “Who is that with you, Sans?”

“this is my brother, papyrus,” Sans called to reassure the wary monster. “i’ve told you about him before, remember? if you let us come in, we could help” Hey, if there was something new happening, including a new human, Sans was definitely curious enough to follow this new thread to the end. A second human who apparently needed help? Would this new human make things worse or better? “what do you say, friend?”

There was a tense pause, then the doors to the ruins slowly creaked open. A tall fluffy-furred goat woman was revealed. She was wearing a long purple dress with the royal delta rune embroidered on the front of it. As always, whenever Sans saw Toriel, his joking buddy from the other side of the door, Sans couldn’t help but think that Toriel was beautiful.

“KING ASGORE? HOW DID YOU TURN INTO A LADY MONSTER?” Papyrus asked, absolutely bewildered.

Toriel gave a small laugh before replying, “I am Lady Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. You must be Papyrus, which means,” she turned to look and smile at the smaller skeleton, “that you must be Sans.”

Sans gave her a wink. “got it in one.”

Papyrus' hands flew to the side of his head as he gasped in wonder. "OH MY GOD, SANS! THIS IS THE MISSING QUEEN! ASGORE WILL BE SO PLEASED THAT WE FOUND YOU, LADY TORIEL!"

Toriel frowned slightly, shaking her head. "We will discuss that another time. Now, we have not a moment to lose. Quickly, follow me, please.”

With that Toriel turned and marched back up the path, deeper into the ruins, with the two skeleton monsters following close behind.


	6. Flickering Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans and Papyrus try to help this strange human, and her soul is the strangest thing they've ever seen. O.O

Toriel led the skeleton brothers through a long hallway of purple stone. Sans looked around vaguely interested, as he had never really found himself on the other side of the Ruins doors. He couldn’t shortcut somewhere he hadn’t been before, after all. Sans looked over to his brother to see how he was doing, and he noted with mild surprise that Papyrus was staying focused on Toriel, his browbones furrowed in concentration. Apparently, Paps was actually worried about this mysterious human woman.

Eh. Call Sans a ‘heartless’ monster if you wanted ( _heh heh_ ), but he couldn’t bring himself to worry over an adult human, even if she was the first new thing to happen in all these resets. If Frisk reset again, there was no guarantee that this woman would appear again. It almost seemed pointless to worry about her if she was going to die anyway. 

Not that Sans wasn’t interested, of course. He just couldn’t bring himself to care.

At the end of the purple hallway was a set of stairs. Toriel led them up into what must have been her home. Sans blinked, realizing that Asgore’s home back at the castle looked nearly identical to this. The stairs led to a hallway that branched left and right, with a door straight across from the monsters that led outside to the rest of the ruins. The right hallway seemed to lead to a cozy living room with a dining table and a plush, comfortable-looking chair in front of a fireplace. There seemed to be another doorway, which likely led to the kitchen. The left hallway was likely where the bedrooms were located. There were three doors on the left wall, with a fourth door at the end that opened into a bathroom. 

Toriel led the skeleton brothers down the left hallway and opened the first door on the left, revealing a child’s bedroom. It was simply furnished with a lamp, small bookcase, a combination wardrobe/dresser, and a small bed with a toy box placed at the foot.

Sans’ eyelights were drawn to the unfamiliar woman lying on the bed, eyes closed, face expressionless and blank. She must have been fairly tall for a human, certainly taller than any of the kids that came through the Underground. The bed was almost too small for her. The slow rise and fall of her chest showed the woman was breathing, but other than that, she didn’t move. Normally people would at least move a little when they slept. A twitch, or a sigh. Something. If it weren’t for the breathing, Sans would have thought this strange woman was already dead.

Frisk was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding the woman’s hand. Her hand was limp in the child’s grasp, but they still held on, as if the contact would coax the stranger awake. Frisk didn’t even look up when the door opened, their distraught gaze fixed on the woman’s face. The kid must have been worried about this woman, whoever she was.

“Frisk, my child.” Frisk finally looked up at the sound of Toriel’s voice. Sans noted their eyes were brown, so he made himself relax, his grin no longer strained or tense. “I have brought a couple of friends who might be able to help,” she said gently. Toriel stepped aside from the door, letting the skeleton brothers enter the room. “This is Sans and his brother, Papyrus.”

Papyrus was the first to greet Frisk with an enthusiastic, “HELLO, SMALL HUMAN!” Papyrus was nearly vibrating with excitement at seeing not one, but two humans for the first time, but his enthusiasm was a bit more muted than Sans expected. Probably because the human on the bed was sick.

Sans, however, was far more laid back, raising his hand in a lazy wave. “heya.”

Frisk smiled with relief upon seeing Papyrus, but they couldn’t bring themself to meet Sans’ gaze. 

_can’t say i blame you, kiddo. the last few timelines didn’t end so well, did they?_

Sans plastered a lazy smile onto his face. No need to let Toriel or Papyrus think something was wrong and start asking questions. Besides, there was always the hope that things would go differently this reset. It was the first time Sans and Papyrus have been let into the ruins, after all.

With a small wave at the woman on the bed, Sans motioned to Frisk. “alright, kiddo. hop off so we can take a look at your friend here.” 

When Frisk hesitated, Papyrus stepped forward to reassure them. “DO NOT WORRY, SMALL HUMAN! LADY TORIEL HAS TOLD US THAT YOUR FRIEND’S SOUL MIGHT BE INJURED, SO WE HAVE COME TO HELP!”

Frisk’s gaze flicked between the two brothers, uncertain. Papyrus continued to stand there heroically, his scarf waving behind him in a non-existent breeze. Sans, as usual, remained silently watching, slouching with his lazy smile. His expression gave nothing away. Finally, Frisk nodded reluctantly and gently put the woman’s hand down by her side. Then they left the bed and moved to stand by Toriel, letting Papyrus and Sans stand by the unconscious woman. Toriel gently placed her paws on Frisk’s shoulders and held them close.

Papyrus carefully took off his red gloves and set them aside, revealing his long, delicate phalanges. He closed his eyes to concentrate, and when they opened again, his right socket began glowing a soft orange color, his hands taking on the same glow. Carefully, the lanky skeleton began moving his hands over the woman, his bones hovering a couple inches above her skin, checking her for wounds that Toriel may have missed. His magic would be able to detect any injuries hiding beneath her clothes. 

While Papyrus used his healing magic to check the stranger’s HP and body for wounds, Sans used this time to examine this mystery woman more closely. Her skin was tanned as if she spent a lot of time outdoors in the sun ( _lucky lady_ ), but underneath her tan, her face had a sickly paleness. The woman had apparently been in quite a few fights. Several faint scars ran along and across her arms, another on her right cheek under her eye, and yet another ragged one across the left side of her neck. Most of them looked very old. No doubt there were even more scars hidden by her clothing.

_what kind of life did this lady have to get so many scars?_ Sans’ brow bones furrowed slightly as he continued to look this woman over. _undyne would probably be impressed._

A glance to the floor beside the bed revealed some of this woman’s belongings. A cloak, neatly folded by Toriel, a tattered shoulder satchel, and, most alarming, a sheathed sword and dagger hanging from a leather belt. Sans didn’t dare draw the weapons, certainly not while everyone here could see him, but the sheaths looked well cared-for, if very old. Likely the blades themselves would be the same. This woman was obviously a fighter.

But from what little Frisk had told him of the surface, and from the human media that has been falling into the Dump, Sans gathered humans no longer actually wore cloaks or carried swords. Why would this woman do so? Some kind of game? The sword and dagger looked far too real, though.

“HMM...THE LARGE HUMAN’S INJURIES APPEAR TO BE QUITE OLD AND ALREADY HEALED, BUT HER HP IS ALARMINGLY LOW,” Papyrus announced, breaking Sans out of his thoughts. “WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LARGE HUMAN TO BRING THEM TO THIS STATE?” he asked, turning to Toriel and Frisk.

Toriel gave Frisk’s shoulders an encouraging gentle squeeze as she smiled softly at them. “Tell them what you told me, my child.” As Frisk started to shakily raise their hands, Toriel looked up to the skeleton brothers. “Frisk is mute, but they speak with their hands and their soul. If you focus your magic on their soul, their words are quite clear.”

Papyrus appeared quite intrigued by this revelation. “SPEAKING IN HANDS…” he mumbled thoughtfully to himself. The larger skeleton frowned a little as if trying to remember something. “FOR SOME REASON, I FEEL AS THOUGH WE ONCE KNEW SOMEONE TO ALSO COULD SPEAK IN HANDS, BUT NOW I’M NOT SURE…” 

Translucent blue sweat drops appeared on Sans’ skull and his grin tightened. He knew exactly who Paps was talking about, but bad things tended to happen if others tried to remember him. “why don’t you tell us about the lady, kiddo?” Sans asked, trying to distract his brother.

Papyrus immediately shook his head, clearing out those foggy recollections, and turned to Frisk apologetically. “MY APOLOGIES, TINY HUMAN! PLEASE, TELL US WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FRIEND.”

It always was a strange feeling having someone speak with the force of their soul alone. Not for the first time, Sans wondered how Frisk learned to do that and why they couldn’t, or wouldn’t, use their voice like the other fallen humans did. Humans had long ago lost their connection with their souls, so they wouldn’t be able to hear Frisk’s soul speak to them.

With a small nod, Frisk quietly began to explain, their soul speaking the words their hands signed to them. ‘I fell into the Underground, and when I woke up, I was by myself. I met a talking flower named Flowey, and he seemed nice at first...but then he wasn’t…he attacked me and tried to hurt me very badly.’

Papyrus gasped, a troubled expression flitting across his face. Sans remembered that his brother had told him about a talking flower that would encourage him and tell him things. When Papyrus had first told Sans about the flower, the shorter skeleton had thought that someone was using an echo flower to prank his brother. Until he found out about Flowey. He had hoped that it hadn’t been Flowey talking to Papyrus, but Papyrus’ reaction to Frisk’s story so far just confirmed it. Papyrus wouldn’t have been so shocked if he didn’t know Flowey in the first place. 

That flower was going to have a very. bad. time. 

Sans turned his attention back to Frisk as they continued their story. ‘Krys appeared out of nowhere and saved me! She scared Flowey away and made sure I was okay. Then...um…’ Frisk bit their lip and stilled their hands. They clenched them into fists for a moment before finishing, ‘Krys collapsed soon after. Mom tried to heal her, but she won’t wake up.’ Frisk’s eyes turned to the ground as they finished, and Toriel drew them close in a gentle embrace, trying to comfort the small child.

_frisk’s not telling us the whole story, that’s for sure...what about chara? where’d that demon spirit go?_ Sans glanced at the other monsters in the room. _i’ll have to talk to them later, without paps and tori around._

“SO THE BIG HUMAN IS NAMED KRYS?” Papyrus asked.

Frisk nodded, still not looking up at the skeletons.

“She was already unconscious when I found the two of them,” Toriel added, trying to draw attention away from the nervous human. “I carried Krys here, and when I found my magic could not help her, I went to find you two.”

Sans nodded in understanding and then turned to face the sleeping woman. “sounds like we’re going to have to look at her soul to see if we can get more answers,” he rumbled. He pulled his left hand free from his jacket pocket, a blue aura surrounding his phalanges matching the soft blue fire glowing in his left eye. “are you ready, pap?”

Papyrus’ right eye socket and hands started to glow a brilliant orange as he gathered his own magic. “READY, BROTHER.”

Toriel took this moment to gently lead Frisk out of the room. “Sans and Papyrus will need to concentrate, my child,” she said, answering Frisk’s nervous questioning glance. “A person’s soul is incredibly personal and intimate, and if Krys’ soul is weakened right now, our friends will have to be extremely careful as they help her. They will be able to work better without us peering over their shoulders.” Frisk didn’t appear consoled, glancing back over their shoulder as if they wanted to run back into the room. “Krys will be fine, my child,” Toriel insisted softly as she led Frisk past the living room and into the kitchen. “While we wait, do you want to help me make a pie?” Frisk nodded hesitantly. “Wonderful! Do you prefer butterscotch or cinnamon?”

Back in the bedroom, Sans’ magic gathered around Krys and gently coaxed her soul to drift into view. He was interested in seeing this woman’s soul for himself while Papyrus healed her. True, he could simply use his Judgement to see it while still in her body, but considering Papyrus needed to see her soul to heal it, that just seemed like too much work. This way it’d be incredibly easy to see her Stats.

Once the woman’s soul appeared above her chest, Sans’ eye sockets widened in surprise, and he could hear Papyrus gasp softly beside him. This soul was unlike any human or monster soul he had ever seen.

All human and monster souls appear as a glowing heart, with various colors depending on the human’s dominant soul trait, or a pure white color with colors swirling inside depending on the color of the monster’s magic. Frisk’s soul, for example, was a deep brilliant red which indicated Determination as Frisk’s soul trait. Sans’ soul was white with a shades of teal, blue, and yellow swirling around inside it. 

This woman’s soul, however, was clear and faceted, as if cut from glass or a crystal. In the center, a small silver ember flickered weakly, like a candle struggling to remain alight in the breeze. Deep cracks spider-webbed across the surface of the soul from some sort of past trauma, potentially multiple ones. Most of the cracks appeared to be older, almost closed as the soul tried to repair itself, though the hairline fracture remained behind like a scar. It was troubling to see.

The most recent crack, however, seemed to be ever so slowly spreading from the top-left corner of the crystalline heart, even as the two skeletons watched. Tiny echoes of cracking glass could be heard as the soul struggled to remain intact, but every time the ember in the center of the soul threatened to extinguish, the crack expanded just a little further. 

Papyrus immediately set to work, kneeling beside the bed and carefully cradling this unusual soul in his hands as he bathed it in his healing magic. Sans kept the soul steady for him, trying to encourage his magic to hold this soul together long enough for Papyrus to heal it. At first, the soul seemed to resist their magic, stubbornly rejecting it as something foreign. Both brothers furrowed their brows and sent another wave of magic at the soul. Sans thought he saw a spark of violet light flash around the soul, but it was gone in an instant. He didn’t get much chance to think about this strange flicker of light because suddenly the crystal soul started accepting the healing magic, and slowly the new crack began to recede and heal. Interestingly, the silver flame inside the soul started to burn a little brighter and more steadily as they worked. Sans was pretty sure the flame even showed a couple more colors - white and blue, in amidst the silver light. What was the significance of that fire?

While Papyrus was focused, Sans Checked Krys' stats. His brow bones raised in surprise at first. She had an unusually high attack and defense, far surpassing most monsters. Her maximum HP was also ridiculously high, though Papyrus was correct when he said her current HP was very low. This woman was close to death. 

The most troubling thing about this woman was her LV. It was at 10.

Sans frowned as he looked at this woman again. That was the LV of someone who fought and killed a lot, someone dangerous, but she had rescued Frisk when Flowey attacked them. Beyond the normal dirt from the cavern, no dust coated her clothes, so she had not killed any monsters as far as Sans could tell. Had Krys killed humans, then? There were just too many questions and not enough answers.

Sans watched his brother work for a while as he mulled over this strange woman, probably close to a full half-hour by his reckoning, before tapping Papyrus on the shoulder. “hey, bro? not that you’re not doing a great job, but you’re going to burn yourself out if you keep going.”

Papyrus sighed. “AS MUCH AS I WOULD LIKE TO ARGUE WITH YOU, IT SEEMS YOU ARE RIGHT, BROTHER.” Slowly Papyrus withdrew his magic, the orange glow fading from his hands and eyes. He wiped the sweat from his brow and stood back up, reaching for his bright red gloves once again. “I ONLY WISH I COULD HAVE DONE MORE. IT WAS LIKE THIS SOUL DIDN’T WANT TO HEAL, SANS! I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT BEFORE.”

Sans carefully guided the soul back into Krys’ body and replied, “i haven’t either, but you did a great job, bro.” He let his own magic fade, and the white pinpricks returned to his eyes as the blue and yellow fire vanished. “she probably just needs to sleep for a bit. if she doesn’t wake up in a couple days, we can come back and try again.”

“EXCELLENT IDEA, BROTHER! LET’S GO TELL LADY TORIEL AND THE SMALL HUMAN FRISK OF OUR PROGRESS!” In spite of Papyrus’ previously tired demeanor, he bolted out of the room and down the hall to find his new friends.

Sans chuckled, his shoulders shaking slightly as he looked fondly after his brother. He always loved Papyrus’ enthusiasm. His gaze returned to the sleeping woman. She didn’t seem quite as pale as she did before, and he was pretty certain he just saw her hand twitch. The first movement he had seen from her, other than her breathing.

His hands stuffed in his pockets, Sans loomed over the bed, frowning as he looked at the woman’s face. “who are you, krys?” he asked softly.

She didn’t answer.

With a sigh, Sans quickly checked to make sure everyone else was still down the hall. He was in the clear, so he quickly knelt down beside the bed to take a look through Krys’ bag, hoping to find something enlightening in there. There were a few incidental items like a pouch with a sewing kit, another small bag with gold coins in it (humans don’t use gold coins, do they?), a canteen with water...Then Sans pulled out a journal, leather bound with five small crystals embedded in the cover, one in the center and the others in a diamond pattern surrounding the central stone.

Jackpot.

Quickly stuffing the journal into his spacious pockets, Sans left the room and quietly closed the door. He’d take a look at this journal later when no one else was around. Papyrus would be horrified if he knew Sans stole this strange “human’s” journal.

“Sans?” Toriel called from the living room. “Frisk and I just made some butterscotch-cinnamon pie. You and Papyrus will stay to have some, will you not? So that we may show our gratitude?”

“butterscotch and cinnamon eh?” Sans asked as he meandered into the room. He winked lazily. “don’t mind if _pie_ do.”

Papyrus groaned as Toriel giggled discreetly. “SAAAAAANS! THAT WAS TERRIBLE, EVEN FOR YOU! APOLOGIZE TO LADY TORIEL AND THE SMALL HUMAN!” 

“sorry bro,” Sans replied with a shrug. “would you prefer if my puns were a bit more _upper-crust_?”

Papyrus’ screeches were drowned out in Sans’ chuckles. Toriel’s laughter, and Frisk’s giggles.

Krys slept on.


End file.
